


Working through the Night...

by pekori (soondubu)



Category: Mother 2: Gyiyg no Gyakushuu | EarthBound
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-05
Updated: 2015-01-05
Packaged: 2018-03-05 12:00:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3119405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soondubu/pseuds/pekori
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's the night before a field trip to Lake Tess, but Jeff never sleeps. Tonight, Tony won't be either, as someone's got to be the guinea pig.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Working through the Night...

**Author's Note:**

> As my first bit of Mother fanfic, I wrote this all the way back in 2008!! I did some light editing for clarity, but left it mostly in tact. It's amazing how much my style has changed since then.

It was very late, and Jeff was up tinkering again. He tended to do this as they approached midterms and finals, but it was only October. Tony figured he must be finishing up his latest project, and simply too eager to sleep. He was accustomed to this; Jeff was always up to something. With a smile on his face, Tony rolled over and snuggled back in. He'd learned long ago how to sleep through the muffled taps of a hammer and quiet curses.

Jeff roused him hours later. Tony had been in the midst of a dream where the pair were walking through a place so much warmer than Winters. "Tony, get _up_. This is important."

"Just a bit longer, please? We're almost back at the school." Tony grinned, though he was already losing the dream to his wakefulness. More importantly though, he was losing his best friend to the door leading into the hallway.

"Jeff! Wait. Where are you going?"

"Out."

"Out? ... _Outside_?" Tony's eyes shot open and he leapt from his bed faster than he had yet in his eleven years. "You can't go outside! It's nighttime! _Do you know how many demerits that is?_ "

"Five for each hour after lights out, resulting in an immediate two-day suspension for anything after one in the morning. But relax. It's midnight."

"Why can't we just do this tomorrow morning? It's Saturday. We're going to Lake Tess! You can test it there!"

"No, I need to test it _now_. It needs to function properly tomorrow while we are _at_ Lake Tess. I promised to have it finished for one of the boys, and I can't bring all my tools down."

"But there are bears outside! And wild goats. _Goats_ , Jeff! With big horns and sharp hooves!"

Jeff sighed and pushed his glasses back up his nose. "And we are behind a brick wall with a large iron gate. But, if it'll make you happier, we can simply test the night vision in the room. Go shut out the lights."

Tony smiled with relief and hurried past Jeff to the light switch by the door. "Ready?"

"Ready." There was a brief moment of silence in which their eyes adjusted to the sudden darkness. "All right. Now, it's important that you keep moving," Jeff said. There were a some soft clicks, presumably Jeff adjusting the camera. "It won't be any good if it doesn't take sharp action shots, seeing as he'll be taking photographs of a live animal. Well, _presumably_. This _is_ the Tessie Watching Club we're talking about."

"Got it," Tony said, grinning. "So, is it working? Can you see me?"

"Yes, I can see you just fine." Tony waved, smiling even wider. Jeff laughed a little and snapped his first photograph. "Start walking to your left. I'll tell you when you're about to hit the bookshelves."

Tony stopped and started and jumped as Jeff told him. There was a lot of laughter as well. Regardless of Jeff's directions, Tony still managed to bump into or trip over everything in the room. His reaction times never got better, not even after tripping over his own shoes at the foot of his bed.

"All right, I think that's enough," Jeff announced as the camera whirred, rewinding its film. "So I'll just sneak down into the darkroom and develop these–"

A sudden knock at their dormitory door pulled a stifled shout out of Tony. The boys exchanged unseeing glances to each other in the dark. After a beat, Jeff approached the door and pulled it open, wincing.

"There was an awful lot of noise coming from up here." Tony gave a small sigh of relief to see only Maxwell. He was a know-it-all, but everyone knew he was soft on Jeff. Even as he stood before them with his hands on his hips, it was clear he wasn't angry.

"Sorry, sir," the boys announced in unison, each with their gazes glued to the floor.

"Your downstairs neighbors were complaining. As much as I don't want to, I'm going to have to write you two up. You know it's after hours."

"We were just excited, Maxwell! Jeff just finished his new project and we wanted to test it out!"

Maxwell sighed and dropped his hands. "Be that as it may, rules are rules for a reason, Tony. Now get to bed. I'll see about keeping you two on for the field trip tomorrow, all right?"

It was only then that Jeff let out a soft sigh of relief. Of course, Tony realized—his clumsiness had nearly cost them the trip. _And_ almost nullified the week of work Jeff had poured into that camera.

After bidding Maxwell goodnight, Jeff closed the door behind him with a soft click. Tony immediately moved to apologize. The words were barely from his mouth when Jeff interrupted. "Don't worry about it." He held up a hand, and even offered a little smile. "We would've gotten in a lot more trouble for trying to take pictures of the goats."


End file.
